Strasbourg 06.05.2025 The European Parliament will vote on whether to change the EU wolf protection status from ‘strictly protected’ to ‘protected’, to align it with the Bern Convention.

🚨MEPs must reject the EU proposal to weaken wolf protections

Experts & citizens agree the proposal is premature, unscientific & threatens biodiversity. 320,000+ voices call for continued strict protection.

Farming & wolves can coexist – with real solutions 🐺#HandsOffNature pic.twitter.com/kakTpPRlkv

— Fintan Kelly (@FintanKelly_) May 1, 2025

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Meanwhile this EU proposal lacks necessary scientific basis, appearing as a purely political initiative of the European Commission, without any underlining ecological data. While the EU cites increasing socio-economic challenges, particularly livestock damage, as justification, there is no notable increase in such damage since 2022.

The current strict protection already allows for the killing of wolves to prevent serious damage or safety risks, and there is no scientific evidence suggesting that downlisting will alleviate socio-economic conflicts. In fact, downlisting may exacerbate existing conflicts as it is likely that deeper social divisions, not just livestock damage, are the real drivers of the debate, and these conflicts are unlikely to be resolved by downlisting.

Today the MEPs will vote on whether to apply the “urgent procedure” to draft legislation enabling a targeted change of the Habitats Directive to align the EU wolf protection status with the Bern Convention. If that vote passes, MEPs will vote on the substance of the proposal on Thursday.

Following calls from Parliament, the Commission is proposing to amend Annexes IV and V of the Habitats Directive regarding the wolf protection status, lowering it from ‘strictly protected’ to ‘protected. This would allow member states greater flexibility in managing their wolf populations, while keeping the overall legal objective of achieving and maintaining a favourable conservation status for wolves.

According to the Commission, there are over 20,000 wolves in Europe, and their populations and ranges are growing. This conservation success story has however led to increasing conflicts with human activities in some regions, in particular concerning livestock.

Wolf pup first howls pic.twitter.com/uOSIwPlBRy

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) May 5, 2025

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Humane Society International/Europe warns that a new proposal to downgrade the protected status of wolves could open the floodgates to more serious attacks on EU nature laws.

In the wake of the December 2024 decision of the Bern Convention to lower the protected status of wolves, the European Commission yesterday put forward a proposal to amend the Annexes IV and V of the EU Habitats Directive to downgrade the protection status of wolves under EU law. This proposal will be dealt with under the Ordinary Legislative Procedure (also known as co-decision), which means that both the European Parliament and the Council of the EU will jointly consider it and adopt a final legislative text.

Dr Joanna Swabe, senior director of public affairs for Humane World for Animals Europe, said: “The decision to open up the Habitats Directive to downgrade wolf protection is a highly political one, shaped by years of relentless pressure by those determined to scapegoat and see more wolves culled, irrespective of the consequences for biodiversity. It is not a science-based decision in any way. While the Commission’s proposal may placate the agricultural lobby, it will not solve the far bigger problems faced by many farmers, particularly in the sheep sector. Instead, it could place the broader legislation at risk. To dissuade Members of the European Parliament and Member States from attempting to further dismantle the Habitats Directive, the European Commission must make it crystal clear that the proposal to downlist the wolf could even be withdrawn if these co-legislators try to tinker with any other part of the legislation.”

“Downgrading wolf protection is a misguided decision that prioritises political gains over science and will further polarise the debate. It offers no real help to rural communities, while it completely undermines the opportunity to continue investing in preventive measures to achieve coexistence,” says the coalition of NGOs consisting of WWF EU, BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, and the European Environmental Bureau.

“Instead of boosting Europe’s nature, our best ally against the climate, biodiversity, and pollution crises, the EU continues its U-turn on one of its most impressive conservation successes in decades. The EU’s push against the wolf sets an extremely dangerous precedent for nature conservation policy as it disregards the science-based approach and turns species protection into a political bargaining chip,” continues the coalition.

Previously pointing to obstructing the science, and degrading into obscurantism, the MEP Anja Hazekamp from The Netherlands (GUE/NGL EP group) publicly explained the initiative of the Commission by personal vengeance of president Ursula von der Leyen, whose old pony Dolly left in the field was culled by a wolf. The explanation was offered during debates in the Chamber in Strasbourg.